


When Snow Melts

by northernskyhills



Series: Snow Trilogy [3]
Category: Game Grumps
Genre: Bathroom Sex, Blow Jobs, Dating, Established Relationship, Gay, Ice Skating, M/M, Netflix and Chill, like so gay, so gay it hurts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-26
Updated: 2018-04-26
Packaged: 2019-04-28 05:06:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14441994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/northernskyhills/pseuds/northernskyhills
Summary: Third and final part of this series! Enjoy!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Third and final part of this series! Enjoy!

Oh my god.  _ Oh my god. _ Those were the only words I could think of. That, and Arin. He was here, in front of me, after so long. Last time I saw him, I screamed at him, I had a full-on breakdown in front of him. Because of him. Sure, we had been texting for the past month or so, but it wasn’t the same as seeing him. Seeing him made my knees weak, my heart pound, and my hands shake. His hair was a little longer, but still in that classic bun of his that I loved. Before I could even form coherent thoughts, he smiled at me, and I was gone. All my worries disappear, I was floating away from everything and everyone. I didn’t realize how much I missed that smile. 

“Hi, I hope this is okay. It’s just that it’s New Year's Eve, we normally do this together, I don’t want to do it again for the second time in a row.” I don’t even know what to say to him. I’m too shocked to speak. I’m filled with so much love for him right now. Arin always knew what to say and what to do. 

   My arms act of their own accord as I pull him in for a hug. Ever since I saw him I’ve desperately been wanting to touch him. I’ve been wanting to touch him this whole year, craving him, and now I have him. 

   Now that he’s finally in my arms, I just want to cry. It’s been so hard without him, without having that constant attention from him. This is the best late Christmas gift anyone could give me. Finally, I pull away, wiping the small tear from my eyes. Now, I look behind him and see my mom giving me a look that I’ve never seen before. My mother and I never really got along. Throughout my angsty teen years we were always bickering and when I moved out, we never fixed it. I always went to see her for Hanukkah, but my sister usually stole all the attention. Dana had a personality that lit up the room, blinding everyone else. Me? I was the shadow that vanished whenever she was around. I held no resentment towards her, or my parents, that’s just how things worked. My mother had never given me this look before. There was a genuine smile on her face, and her eyes shone with tears and pride. 

   I didn’t visit her this year for Hanukkah, while I felt bad about it, I just didn’t feel up to the long two-hour drive to her house. Clearly, she hated it so much that she decided to come here. 

   With a hand on my mom’s shoulder, there was my dad. Big and strong and a role model for anyone who ever met him. Behind him, my sister Dana. As soon as I let go of Arin she ran over to hug me. I stood there with my hands limp at my sides. Dana and I had never been affectionate, especially this genuine and loving. She held onto me like we hadn’t seen each other in years. Maybe I hurt her by not responding to her texts. When Dana runs toward me, I catch a glimpse of Brian and Holly. Holly keeps trying to talk to me at work but after all this time I’m still too embarrassed to talk to her again. 

   I pull away from Dana to meet the pair of brown eyes that match mine. “I’m sorry,” my voice cracks at seeing the pain in her eyes. “I didn’t mean to do this. To any of you.” I look away from her, meeting the eyes of everyone else. “It just happened. With everything else going on with me I didn’t even consider other people’s feelings. I am so sorry. What happened with Ross messed me up. When I was finally doing better I just didn’t know how to reach out. I know that’s not a good enough excuse so I’m just sorry. ”

   It’s Holly who answers, taking a step forward to stand in front of my dad. “It’s okay. We all understand. That’s why we’re here. All we’ve wanted to do was help you. We wanted you to see that you’re not alone. You’ve been alone all this time, we just didn’t want you to spend the Holidays alone again.”

   I smile as tears fall down my face. “Thank you so much. I love you all.”

   “We love you too, dear.” my mom says clutching my father’s hand. “But please, it’s really cold. Can we come in?”

   I wipe the tears from my cheeks. “Oh dear, yes of course. Make yourself comfortable.” My legs feel chilly and I realize I’m still in my bathrobe and a blush rises to my cheeks. “I better go change.”  

   I leave the door open and make to walk over to my bedroom. Before I can go Arin gently grabs my arm. “Can I come with you?”

   My heart beats faster as I meet his intense gaze. “Uh, sure.” We walk together down the hall to my bedroom and I close the door behind us. He’s been in my room a million times but now there’s something else there. A different feeling. I quickly go to my bathroom and hang up my bathrobe and pull on my jeans. I come out to see Arin sitting on my bed. He looks up to meet my eyes and soon his gaze is cast downward, sliding down my shirtless body and down to even lower places, and then linger. I just stand there, frozen by his stare. My face heats up and I force myself to move over to my dresser and pull on a shirt. 

   I feel a presence behind me, it must be Arin. I turn to face him and he’s very close, closer than I expected him to be. This is a new thing I’m feeling with Arin, something stirring in my stomach. When he’s this close, I just want to pull him close and kiss him like I did almost a year ago. Kiss him deeply and like I mean it. I want to do more than kiss his lips. I want to kiss other places. Whoa, these thoughts, I can’t do this right now. I step back directly into my dresser and a knob probes me in the back and I groan in pain. 

   “I’ve missed you,” Arin says, not taking another step forward, thank god. I don’t know if I can’t handle this. “These past months without you have been so lonely and hard. I’ve wanted to call you and see you every single day of it. You already know how much I regret what happened the last time we saw each other. I would say I want things to be the way they were, but I don’t.” He takes a deep breath. “I know it might be too soon for you, but I want to be more than friends this time around. That kiss that happened almost a year ago left me reeling and I still think about it. I want more of that. If you don’t that’s okay. We can go back to being friends, but I can’t see you any longer today without telling you.”

   I want Arin so bad. But will I be okay after Ross? I don’t want to mess him up with my problems. But, it’s Arin. He’s always understood and been there. “I have to think about it more.” I see his face fall. “I’m not saying no. I just need a little bit of time to think it through. Right now, It’s two hours until a new year starts and I want to spend some time with my family, that includes you.” 

   His frown turns into a smile at the mention of calling him family. “I understand. Let’s go out there, huh?”

   I nod and join everyone in the living room. In the ten minutes we were gone they’ve managed to lay out food and drinks on the dining room table and already have Mario Kart set up.    

   “Wow, you guys work fast.” I chuckle. I turn to Arin, who has a bemused expression on his face. “Ready for me to kick your ass at Mario Kart?”

   He winks, giving me a sly smile. “Oh, you can try.”


	2. Chapter 2

  I did kick his ass. Now a little tipsy but still clear-headed I think more about what he said before in my room. I can’t stop thinking about it. Everyone shouts at the TV, counting down the seconds and all I can think of his how handsome he looks. I want him. I want it all. There isn’t a shred of doubt in my mind that he and I belong together. 

I hear them shout “Five! Four! Three!” as I pull on Arin to make him look at me. I might as well start off the year right. They all scream as it turns midnight as I cup Arin’s face with my hand press my lips to his. He goes stiff at first, then he relaxes, his arm slinks around my waist and we press closer together, returning my kiss. I run my fingers through his hair as we kiss. A hurricane of emotions soaring through me. Is this actually happening? 

   Eventually, I pull away, and I immediately want to pull him back to me but I notice my sister smiling at me out of the corner of my eye. She’s absolutely beaming and I remember that everyone thinks that Arin is just my best friend. They don’t know virtually anything about what happened, why I cut myself off. “Happy New Year guys,” I say fidgeting with my fingers. My mom looks insanely happy while my dad looks indifferent. Holly and Brian just stand there awkwardly, but not at all surprised. My sister looks shocked, but also happy, while her husband awkwardly walks away to pour himself a drink. I just then noticed that it was four minutes after midnight. I had been making out with Arin for four minutes and I didn’t even notice my entire family staring at me.

   I have the instinct to just tell everyone to not worry about it but that wouldn’t sate my sister. But this thing with Arin is new, I couldn’t possibly answer her questions. I don’t know what’s going on I just want to kiss him and hold his hand and mess around with him on my bed. Even if I could answer I don’t want to answer in front of our parents. 

   I finally meet eyes with Arin and the hungry look in them makes me want to kick everyone out so we could have time to ourselves. 

   “Happy New Year guys?” I take a step back from Arin, fumbling with my fingers. Oh wait, these are Arin’s fingers. I quickly let those go, opting to nervously run my fingers through my hair. 

   “Happy New Year.” My mother says, still smiling. Are they really not going to acknowledge this? 

   “Diane, better get going.” I hear my dad say to my mom. “There’s going to be a lot of traffic on the way back to the hotel.” Obviously, my dad was making a bullshit excuse to get the hell out of here, and honestly, I don’t blame him. Not every day you see your son make out with his best friend. 

   “We should head back home Dana.” Mark, her husband, says from the kitchen. 

   Soon there was only Brian and Holly left in my apartment. Holly poured herself a few extra drinks and soon Brian was leading a stumbling Holly out of out my house. Then Arin and I were alone. 

   We drift towards the couch and collapse on the couch. Arin shuffles over to me until his head is leaning against my shoulder. I hesitate for a few moments but I make the decision to intertwine his fingers with mine. 

   “Are we really doing this?” He mutters into my shoulder.

   “I think so. I want to.” I really do. I’ve done a lot of thinking this past year. Every time I was alone my thoughts would drift to Arin. I missed him as my best friend, yeah, but there was something more there. There always has been and I’d been so blind because of Ross that I didn’t see it.

   “It’s just so weird. I’ve wanted this for so long and now it’s actually happening. It’s almost hard to believe.” I look over to see a stupid smile on his face, one that probably mirrors mine. 

   “I feel the same, Arin.” I give him a shy smile. “ Hey, why don’t we go on our first date tomorrow?”

   “Can we go ice skating?” I chuckle at that but nod.

   “Yeah, we’ll get hot chocolate.”

   “I’ll fall a dozen times and you’ll catch me.”

   “Oh don’t worry, I’ll fall too,” I say, meeting his eyes.

   “Let’s just keep each other steady then.” 

   “Deal.” We jokingly shake hands and we laugh. Once our laughter dies down, I lean over to kiss him. 

   I pull away for no more than two seconds before he’s pulling me back to him. Soon, I’m laying on top of him, settled between his legs. I don’t know how long we’ve been kissing but I never want this to end. I don’t want this feeling to end. His chilly hands glide over the small of my back and I visibly shudder. There’s been so much kissing and sucking and biting but nothing more. We both are very obviously excited but neither of us takes the next move. I want to do everything with Arin, but I’m also afraid to take things too far. What if I’m not what he expected? What if I’m not good enough for him? I know he’s been with other guys, and he’s been with some girls too. They were all assholes but he seemed overall happy about those relationships. These thoughts soon leave me soft and pulling away from him and sitting up.

   “Danny?” I feel him sit up on the couch and rest a hand on my back. 

   “Do you want to go to bed?” I say, not meeting his eyes. “I’m getting a little sleepy.”

   “Should I go home?”

   Should he? Now that we’re sort of together does this make this a friend sleepover or a date sleepover? No that’s ridiculous. We’re just sleeping. “No, you can sleep here. You don’t have to drive all the way home at one in the morning.”

   “Alright.”

   We walk together to my bedroom and I go to my dresser. What do I wear? I usually sleep in just a t-shirt and my boxers but do I wear sweatpants now? No, I should just wear what I always wear. I strip off my jeans and kick them to the corner where I usually put dirty clothes. I rip my socks off my feet, throwing them in a random direction and collapse on my bed. 

Arin joins me a few minutes later, wearing his shirt from today and one of my pajama bottoms. Or are they his? Our clothes get so mixed up we just wear whatever. Do we cuddle? In the past, we would just go to bed and wake up cuddling but would pretend that never happened. Now what? 

   I need to stop panicking. I need to get out of my head. It’ll all figure itself out. I just need to be calm, be casual. That’s always been so easy for me before. 

I lean over to turn off the lamp and plug in my phone, then roll over to face Arin. He’s smiling at me with that lazy smile like he always does. Before I can think anymore I grab his hand and intertwine our fingers. The last thing I see before I close my eyes and fall asleep is his bright smile. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Longer chapter than the others, but there is a good reason, I promise ;)

  Arin went home shortly after we woke up to get ready for our date. We did actually wake up cuddling. Arin was still sleeping on my chest and I stayed in bed for another hour, just looking at him, not wanting to wake him. Maybe a bit creepy, but I just couldn’t help myself. Kissing him goodbye this morning made me want to pull him back into bed and do insane things to him. But it’s too soon for any of that. Right? Right. 

I’m so torn between giving us time for things to develop and just completely ravishing him the moment I see him. It may just be that it’s been two years since I last had sex or it could just be what Arin does to me. I run my hand through my hair, two hours until our date. 

   I get showered and change into my favorite pair of jeans or at least the ones that don’t have holes in them, a grey t-shirt, my favorite green jacket, and my pair of black boots. I shove my hair into a bright red beanie, no matter how much I hate doing it I know if I don’t my ears will freeze off. I grab a pair of gloves, then go back and grab a second pair because I know Arin won’t bring any and his hands will become icier than they already are. I pull on my winter coat and head outside to my car. 

   Not before long I’m parked outside of his house and I text him telling him that I’m here. It’s been a really long time since I’d been here. The night of my wedding actually. Which was the night Arin and I kissed for the first time. After kissing him I told him that I needed time before I could start something with him. And he waited, just like he said he would, he waited for me. Here we are, a year later on our first date. He emerges from inside smiling brightly at me, making his way through the snow to my car. He was always really bad at shoveling his snow. I’ve done it for him for the past ten years. I never minded because Arin was waiting inside with hot chocolate, our favorite movie, and a ton of blankets to warm me up. I should really start shoveling it again. He can barely make it two feet without almost tripping and falling over. 

   After a few minutes, he finally made it to my car, the snow up to his ankles. I sit with a cheeky smile, trying not to laugh as he shivers his way into my car. 

   “Your feet cold?” He was only wearing his old tennis shoes, and his socks were probably soaked through. 

“No.” He said with a straight face, but after raising my scarred eyebrow at him for long enough, he finally cracked and laughed. “Alright listen! I figured we wouldn't be wearing shoes long since we would be skating.”

   “You really need some boots, Arin. And maybe a shoveled walkway.”

“Sorry, I just got used to not having to do it.” The cheery tone fades from my voice and I look away. 

   “I didn’t mean-” He starts but I quickly interrupt him.

“It’s okay, Arin. I know. I haven’t been there. I just ditched you and you were the one person I should’ve stuck to. I just had my head in my ass and I wasn’t looking at anyone else. I’m here now. And I’m gonna shovel the fuck out of that walkway no matter what you say.” I say, still staring at the wheel.

“Hey, Danny?” I still keep my eyes trained on the wheel. “Danny. Look at me.”

I finally turn to look at him and his eyes are clear with certainty as he leans over to kiss me. “It’s alright. I understand. I’m glad you’re here now. But you don’t have to feel bad about last year. You did what you needed to do and I respect that. Besides, who wouldn’t want their head in your ass, am I right?” He shrugs and smiles at me and I try not to laugh but I can’t help it.

   “Oh my god you’re so ridiculous,” I say in between laughs. 

   “I know I am. But I speak the truth.” He says as he nods to himself. “You have a great ass. Class A. One hundred percent greatness.” He makes the okay symbol with his hand.

   My cheeks heat up rapidly and I feel the heat quickly spreading to my ears and neck. I awkwardly clear my throat and grip the steering wheel tightly. “Let’s just head out okay?” I say as I put the car in drive. I didn’t want to mention that he had a pretty nice one too. Not that I’d been looking. I just noticed. It was just a coincidence. I like to admire his jeans. They’re really nice Levi’s. Oh god, this isn’t helping now I’m just thinking more about his ass. My pants become tighter and I shift in the driver’s seat as I pull out of his driveway. 

   He chuckles and I hope he hasn’t noticed my situation. If he does I just hope he doesn’t say anything about it. I feel my palms become clammy and they start to sweat as I drive. I glance over at Arin I catch him looking at me. I feel another wave of heat drown me and I slowly begin to panic. Sweet christ please don’t notice my issue, I’m an ass guy so of course, this happens to me. I concentrate on the road and how to drive and I feel the tension in my pants lessen. I almost sigh in relief, I at least don’t have to worry about that anymore. 

   Soon enough I pull into the parking lot and find a relatively good parking space. We walk inside and rent our skates. Once we figure out how to tie the laces he head over to the practice rink, of which was sadly filled with small children. 

   “Let’s try not to crush any kids alright?” Arin says to me as he steps onto the ice and gently nudges me, but it’s enough to force for me to lose my balance and almost fall onto the hard ice. I grasp onto the railing as if I was going to die if I didn’t. “Oh shit!”

   “Whoa Nelly, Arin I almost died!” I say with mock fear. Although in all honesty I almost had a heart attack.

   “I’m sorry, Dan. I didn’t think about that. I won’t do it again.” He gently links our arms and we start to skate around the rink together. Children maneuver around us with ease so we don’t have to figure out turning on the skates yet.

   “So what did you do for the past year without me?” He says lightheartedly. Jacked off, I think to myself initially. 

“If I’m being honest, not a lot. I mostly sat around and cried. And then worked. And then missed you, started crying and then just worked more.” I sigh, trying to focus on not falling. “It really wasn’t that eventful. I did get a promotion though. All the hard work paid off.”

   “That’s great Dan! I’m really proud of you. Crazy proud. Even though I had nothing to do with it.”

   “What are you talking about?” I take a deep breath, gathering the words. “Everything I drew was for you. Sure it was stupid buildings and structures but every moment I thought of you. You were the one that made me realize I wanted to do this. In everything I drew, I wondered if you would like it. Then changed it when I knew you wouldn’t or didn’t. All of it is because of you.” I stop skating and he halts to a stop next to me. “You’re everything.” I look into his eyes, awaiting a harsh judgment or for him to call me an idiot, but it never came. He closed his eyes and kissed me. 

   I felt like I was flying. Like every time we kiss. I was David Bowie, soaring through the skies with a rainbow flag as my carpet. I felt the highest high I’ve ever been. Of course, it crashed down when some little kid screamed from a few feet away. 

“Ewwwwwww! They’re kissing!” I laugh as he skated away, nearly tripping. 

I look back to Arin and almost faint at the look he’s giving me. God, I want to kiss him again. 

“We should get out of the practice rink before some conservative moms get angry.”

   “You’re probably right. I think we’re ready for the big kid's rink now anyways.”   I pump my fist and smile triumphantly at him.

   “Yeah, we’re big boys now.” I laugh as we stumble out of the practice rink and into the other one. Before I can stop it Arin flies off. Shooting around the rink, gliding like he’s on top of the word. There’s the biggest smile on his face and his arms are wide open. His hair was gracefully blowing behind him, he looked like an actual angel. ‘Gonna fall a bunch of times’ my ass. I watched him in awe and weak at the knees, as he made his way to me, the earth-shattering like glass around me.

   I think I’m starting to fall in love with him, already. It wasn’t the platonic way either. No, I already love him like that. This was different, nothing like the way it was with Ross, but ten times as scary. Even more scary thinking that he might feel the same. 

   He laughs as he skates to me, and I realize I’ve been standing in the same place, watching him. “Sorry I left you,” He smiles, slightly out of breath. “I just wanted to do that once.”

   And then suddenly we’re in a bathroom stall, I’m slamming him against the wall. Kissing him hungrily. I can’t get the picture of him out of my mind. One hand is tangled in his hair, the other grabbing his ass. I hear him moan and suddenly I’m in a frenzy. I can’t get enough of him. The smell of him, the hungry kisses. My knee is pressed up against the wall between his legs, grinding a spot which makes him moan louder, and I quickly silence him with a kiss. I was never this way before. I’ve never felt a need like this, I’ve never felt so desperate. 

   “Hey Dan, you ok?” I suddenly am brought back to reality and Arin is looking at me with a concerned look on his face. “You zoned out there for a minute, also you’re really red in the face, are you too hot?” He presses a hand to my forehead to feel my temperature. “You’re burning up Dan! Are you sick?” I stare at him blankly as I process what just happened. Did I make all of that up? But it felt so real.

   “N-nothing. I feel fine.”

   “Are you sure?” He looks really worried. “We should head to the benches.”

   I follow him inside the gate and we slide off our skates. I can’t stop thinking about my daydream. And as I think about it more my pants become even tighter. I shift in my seat which turns out to be a mistake. I can’t fight against the groan I release at the friction. Arin slowly turns to me and he looks very concerned, I blush a beet red and I just want to die. Getting hard on the first date is very classy. 

   I don’t know if God is real or not, but for a moment I truly believed that he was because Arin has yet to notice my hard-on and he thought my groan was from pain. 

   “Dan, what’s wrong? Does your stomach hurt or something?” Do I tell him? I mean, he’s my best friend and kind of boyfriend at this point. He’ll probably just laugh it off, right? I mean he talks about dicks all the time, so he wouldn’t care right? So without another thought, I spill everything. The words fall out of my mouth like a waterfall, I stutter from nerves and I begin to shake but I can’t stop. I sit and wait for a minute to let Arin process what I just said. 

   “Wow, that was… graphic.” He chuckles and blushes a cute shade of pink. Oh my god. Why did I tell him?

   “Sorry about that… I kind of just word vomited all over you. And that probably wasn’t a good idea considering we’re at a skating rink and we’re surrounded by children and parents oh my god-” I begin to panic but Arin gently shushes me and holds my hand gently.

   “It’s okay.” And he looks down and just now noticed my bulge. “You know, I do love making people’s dreams a reality.” I feel my eyes narrow as I try to figure him out.

   “What does that mean?”

   “It means...follow me.” He takes my hand and leads me to the bathroom. I follow him into the nearest stall and he locks the door behind us and advances towards me. He kisses me and all my fears melt away, and I almost immediately just start thinking with my dick. I press him against the wall, almost reenacting what happened in my daydream. I reach down and start to palm him through his jeans, making him squirm and groan. The sounds he made were better than any “Rush” song I had ever heard in my life. This was even better than in my dream. This wasn’t enough for him though, I could tell. I decided to follow my dreams and start to grind into him with my knee. That almost had him falling apart against me. I lost all sense of thought. I started to suck and bite and kiss his tender neck like I had no other purpose in the world. I could hear him falling apart as I continued my motions, grabbing Arin’s ass like I’ve wanted for the entire time. His responding moan almost made me release into my pants. 

   “Danny...” I hear him whimper as I grind against him even harder, a spark of electricity runs down my back. “I’m gonna-” He throws his head back in pure ecstasy as he comes. An almost evil grin appears on my face as I leave a mark on his neck as he finishes. My dick practically twitches as it aches for attention, groaning for some sort of release like an animal in heat. 

   Before I know it I’m the one against the wall as Arin kneels on the ground, this wasn’t in my dream. My heart is racing one million miles an hour and I can feel a wet spot starting to form on my boxers. He unzips my jeans and I feel his lips gently kissing the bulge sticking out from my underwear. He gently begins to palm my cock and I feel beads of sweat forming on my brow. I inadvertently buck against his hand. “Oh god…Arin, please.” I’ve never begged like this before. He pulls down the only barrier between us and I’m dying. I can’t help but watch him, I can’t tear my eyes away from this scene that's unraveling before me. I watch his eyes widen slightly and his cheeks turn a deep crimson. “I-Is something wrong?... Arin?” I stammer as I try not to shake. I knew I was big but again, he had been with other guys before, was he not used to this?

   Arin bites his bottom lip and I think I’m about to lose it. “Nothing… just that it would be an absolute honor to suck your cock.” He smiled slyly at me and flicked his tongue over my tip.

I literally cannot make a sound. My back arches and my mouth is agape as his tongue swirls around me and he bobs his head at a steady pace and I’m losing my mind. My fingers are fisted in his hair. I’m trying so hard not to pull his hair out but nothing has ever felt this good before. He moans while I’m in his mouth and it sends vibrations all throughout my body, I have to cover my mouth to stop myself from screaming Arin’s name. All words have escaped me as I feel myself let go in his mouth. I grab his shirt and pull him up into a feverish kiss, not caring about the taste of my own come, I just want him. All of him.

   I pull away from him as I hear a knock on the door, and a feminine voice speaks to us from the other side. “Hey guys, I’m gonna need you two to come out now.”

A slight wash of panic comes over me but Arin holds up his hand as if he was telling me he had this. “Uh yeah, just one second.” I look at Arin and I can barely contain my giggling as I zip up my pants. I straighten myself up and I fix Arin’s hair for him. We open the door to the stall to be met with a stern-faced blonde lady. Her name tag reads Karen. “We’re really sorry,” I tell her.

   “That’s fine but you understand you’re not welcome here anymore, right? This is a family establishment after all.” She sighs and he facial expression softens, I feel like she somewhat sympathizes with our situation.

   “Understood.” I grab mine and Arin’s coat and we quickly return our skates and leave the building, the whole time Karen watches us. We burst into laughter as soon as we reach my car.

   “I can’t believe we just did that!” Arin laughs stumbling over to me. I pull him in for a kiss and I can’t help myself from reaching to grab his ass as I kiss him deeply. I smirk at the groan that leaves his mouth. I can’t help it. After doing this I just want more, and more, and more, and more. 

   “Danny, you’re gonna get me going again.” 

   “Is that a problem?” I smirk.

   “Not really, but the location might be.”

   “Yeah you’re probably right, maybe we could continue later,” I say teasingly with hooded eyes. I hope I looked seductive, but I honestly probably just looked high. 

   “Maybe we can.” I kiss him one last time before opening his door for him and then sliding into my seat. 

   “Where do we wanna go?”

   “Well, you can come back to my place. We never actually got our hot chocolate. We were too busy getting kicked out.”

   “Yeah, we can do that. And how about I actually shovel your driveway while I’m there?” I say as I start up the car and pull out of the parking space.

   “You don’t have to.”

   “I know, but I want to. You’re gonna end up freezing off your toes otherwise.” 

   “Okay, okay. I’ll get the hot chocolate ready, what should we watch?”

   “How about Stranger Things? I still haven’t seen the second season.”

   He looks at me as if I had just run over his cat, letting out a loud gasp. “Danny that’s a sin! Why haven’t you watched it?”

   “I tried. It was weird not watching it with you. I couldn’t do it.”

   “Well, it was really good, you best bet we’re gonna finish it today.” I sneak a quick peek over at him to see him smiling at me.

   I pull into his driveway and I start to head into his house before I realize that Arin hasn’t followed me yet. I don’t think he wants his feet to be all wet and soggy again. Without another thought, I pick up his larger body and carry him over to his front door. Quite frankly I’m surprised I could even lift him, considering I’m practically a beanstalk and he’s twice my size.

He lets out a yelp of surprise. “Dan, what the fuck?!” I heave him up and manage to stumble up to his front door successfully without slipping. I should have thought this through a little bit more.

   “We can’t have your feet getting all wet can we?” I set him down on his porch and he looks me dead in the eyes. His face is a bright red and he looks upset. 

   “I didn’t ask you to do that.”

   “You didn’t have to,” I say matter of factly. He still looks kind of upset, maybe I shouldn’t have done that. “I’m sorry if me doing that upset you. I was just trying to mess around with you.” I cast my eyes downward, opting to look at my snow-covered boots instead of looking into his eyes. 

   “I was kidding Danny. I’m not really upset, it’s okay.” I finally decide to meet his eyes and he’s smiling at me. “We’re good.” He leans forward and presses his lips against mine with a quick kiss. He pulls away all too, leaving sparks and a tingle on my lips. “Now, you have a job to do. The shovel is where it always is.”

   I chuckle slightly and make my way to his shed and grab the shovel and get to work. This was the downside of living in a place where it snowed, having to shovel everything, that, and black ice. I get to work. Having already done this several times before, it was relatively easy. Arin did manage to shovel his driveway, although not very well. I only had to deal with the walkway and small parts of the driveway. Soon I was putting his shovel back where it belongs and kicking the snow off of my boots to go inside. 

   I pull my hat and my gloves off and shove them into my coat pocket, hanging my coat up and kicking off my boots. I heard Arin humming in the kitchen, probably making the hot chocolate still. I know he probably heard me I want to try and sneak up on him anyways.

I tiptoe into the room, he’s stirring the chocolatey liquid around in the pot, perfect timing. I inch closer to him and slide my arms around his stomach, resting my head on his shoulders. I feel his laugh rumble through his chest and I tilt my head to kiss him on the cheek. I don’t know what’s gotten into me. I always find myself wanting to touch him, kiss him, and I can’t bring myself to not do it. I think back to a few years ago when we were just friends, and I remember feeling the same feelings, but I was too blinded by Ross and I just saw it as craving cuddles from my best friend. I never really thought about it in a romantic way. Now that I have him, I don’t want to let go of him. This is still technically our first date but I’m feeling that’s that I didn’t feel with Ross until we were a few months in. Maybe it’s because I already know Arin. I know him inside and out. Everything is like an instinct. I know exactly the spots that will make him go crazy without sparing a thought. 

   “Done already?” He says twisting in my arms to face me. “You’re absolutely freezing.” I shrug and lean to kiss him again. He laughs but meets my kiss, pulling away a few seconds after. “Stop distracting me. I don’t want it to burn. Can you grab the marshmallows for me?”

   “Of course.” I release him and go the cupboard where he keeps all his snacks. I find them after a few moments of searching and find him pouring the liquid into mugs. I dig into the already open bags of marshmallows and take a small handful and shove them into my mouth.

   “Danny! Those are for the hot chocolate.”

   “I know,” I say through the marshmallows. I can’t help but laugh at the fake-offended look he has on his face. 

   “So rude.” He mutters under his breath as he takes the bag away from me. I know he’s not really mad by the smile he has on his face. He’s used to me doing that. He grabs a handful of marshmallows and drops some into each mug. He closes the bag and tosses it on the counter, and hands me one of the mugs. 

   We make our way to the living room and sit on the couch, making sure to not spill our drinks. I drape a blanket over us as Arin pulls up the second season of Stranger Things. “Now, “ he says after taking a sip of his drink. “It can get a little spooky, so if you need someone to hold to, I’m here.” He holds his free hand up his chest.

   “Oh shut up. I got scared one time.” I say, lightly smacking him in the arm.

“Yeah it was one time but it was hilarious. You actually fell out your chair cause you were so scared.” 

   “Well, that’s not gonna happen this time.” I hear him start to laugh next to me and I immediately smile. Hearing that laugh could make me happy even on my worst days. Last year, I remember listening to a few of his old voicemails that I kept. I would close my eyes and pretend he was right next to me. It was utterly pathetic but I missed him so much. Even though I missed him, I was a complete idiot and I shut him out. 

I snuggle up to him and he puts his arm around me, making me feel a lot warmer. We sit silently and watch the show. I do get a little scared as Steve faces off with some Demo-Dogs, but Arin holds me steady and I strangely don’t feel as scared. 


	4. Chapter 4

A few weeks later and we still haven’t finished Stranger Things. We were together almost every day to watch it, but we kept getting distracted. Arin would bite his lip and I would go crazy until we stumbled our way to the bed. 

   Things were going great. We had a few more successful dates, none of them ending up with sex in the bathroom but it almost did a few times. After experiencing everything with Arin, I wanted it more and more, luckily, he felt the same. We still haven’t had the “what are we” talk. I’m petrified. What if he doesn’t want what I want or I feel more about him than he does about me. I know somewhere in my head that I’m being ridiculous, but no matter what I do I can’t push away these thoughts. My heart wants so desperately to get it over with, but my brain is holding my heart back. “What if it all goes wrong?” My brain says, and my heart can’t argue with that. So we go on dates, we kiss, we fuck, but there’s no real title. Because a title is scary. Calling him my boyfriend is scary. He could be a boyfriend like Ross, I can’t handle that again. And although I do enjoy the sex, I don’t want to be an object and I don’t want him to feel like one either. I want to be so much more with him, but I don’t know what he wants. I know I should just get it over with and just talk to him, but every time I go to there’s a tug in my heart that stops me every single time. It will just come up naturally, I’m sure. 

   Arin was going to come over today, we were going to watch the last episode of season two. I was just trying to finish up a few drawings for a new client at work but I couldn’t concentrate. It was one of those few moments that I thought about Ross. I rarely thought about him, but when I did, it never left me in an emotionally stable place. But I couldn’t help thinking about him. Despite my best efforts of trying not to care, I wanted to know what was happening with him, if he was seeing someone. I had never been one to not become friends with my ex-lovers at some point. 

   I don’t know if I’m ready to see Ross again. He tore up my life and didn’t seem to have any real regrets. He told me a few days after he left me at the altar that he never actually loved me. Not only that but what would Arin think? I’m sure he wouldn’t be comfortable with me talking to Ross again, but then again, Arin was my best friend. If anyone would understand, it would happen. I couldn’t see him right now, for sure, I want to wait until Arin and I were more confident in our relationship. 

   Shaking Ross from my mind I pick up my pencil and manage to sketch a few more lines before my phone goes off. It’s a text from Dana.  _ Hey little brother! Have you had the talk with him yet??? _

   I smile at my sister’s erratic way of texting and quickly send a response. Arin and I’s relationship wasn't the only thing that’s been growing. My sister and had gotten closer ever since New Years, and I found myself venting to her about my relationship. Who else could I have talked to? I can’t exactly talk to Arin about Arin. But me confiding and her had led to her confiding to me about her issues with Mark, and that had led to having a big talk about our childhood. I told her that I felt she always took away the spotlight and she felt like she had to do that since I was the successful child, getting better grades and knowing what I wanted to do before I had even finished high school. Dana didn’t know what she wanted to be a teacher until the end of her sophomore year of college. With all that out of the way, it allowed being close again after twenty years of barely talking to each other. Looking back I think this is the happiest I have ever been. Things are great with my family and I have Arin. It was so surreal, I couldn’t stop myself from smiling all of the time. I kept waiting for myself to wake up and realize that it was just a dream but I never do. 

   But, I digress. Arin was coming over today. I set down my pencil and get up from my desk and tidy up my house before he comes over. 

   No more than ten minutes later I hear a knock on the door. “Come in!” I say, knowing it’s Arin. He opens the door, carrying a box of pizza with a smile on his face. He sets the pizza on the coffee table and makes his way over to me. I take his hands and mine and kiss him. I briefly pull away only to thank him for bringing the food and then I’m already pulling him back to me. I let go of his hands only to snake my arms around his waist instead, bringing him closer to me. I couldn’t help but feel a little bit horny. We were still in that amazing honeymoon phase so whenever I saw him I just wanted to drag him to my bed and show him all that I could do. Before I could do that, however, Arin pushed me away, a chuckle falling from his lips.

   “Danny, stop. We are finishing season two today. It took us weeks just to finish the first eight episodes. Besides, you don’t want to eat cold pizza do you?” 

   I knew he could hardly resist himself, as his arms were wrapped around my neck, fingers playing with the small strands of my hair. “I’d rather spend my time eating something else,” I say, trying to pull him back for another kiss. Christ, I had never felt like this before. Arin could just look at me some days and my dick was sprung. I couldn’t help myself. He had to be the sane one in the relationship, which was weird for me. With Ross, I had to be the one to make the decisions, Ross would be the one wanting sex all the time. That was all he wanted to do and I would rather cuddle. With Arin, I want to do anything. Have sex, cuddle, watch TV. It didn’t matter as long as I was spending the time with him. And it seemed that the feeling was reciprocated. It just made me so happy. He made me so happy. I smile to myself and lean down to pepper kisses to the side of his neck.

   “Danny! You’re like a fourteen-year-old boy going through puberty. Now come on,” He says, removing himself from my arms and plopping down on the couch. “Let’s get started. This is a really good episode.”

   “All of them are good.” I sit down next to him, putting my arm around his shoulders. He shifts his position until his head is leaning against my chest. I can’t help but press a kiss to the top of his head. The smile I get from him in response is enough to make my heart swell inside my chest, a bigger smile appearing on my face. 

**~.~.~**

   “This is the third time I’ve watched this episode and I’m still reeling. Why can’t these kids have a happy ending!?” Arin is angrily chewing his pizza, now in a sitting up position and I can’t help but stare at him. The episode has me upset too, but I can’t think about it right now. Thoughts from earlier creep into my head. I want to know what we are. I don’t want any more doubts with Arin. There were doubts for a year, I’m done with that. 

   I take a deep breath, mentally gathering the words in my mind. “Arin?”

   “How come you aren’t as upset as I am? You should be screaming with me.” He manages to say even with food in his mouth.

   “I am upset, but there’s something more important I want to talk to you about.” 

   Arin turns somber all of a sudden. He swallows down his pizza, setting the rest down on the almost empty box of pizza. “Yeah, what’s on your mind?”

   Before I can stop myself I let the words flurry from my mouth. Everything that I’ve been thinking about these past few weeks come out without any style or grace. “Arin, I really like you. I love you, as my best friend. And now with everything else I realize that I have the potential to fall in love with you. I think I already am if I’m being honest. I’m sorry I don’t really know what I’m saying here. The point is, I want to be with you. And I know I already am but I want to be your boyfriend. I want a title. I want to introduce to people and say ‘This is Arin, my boyfriend.’ I don’t know if it’s too soon but I just really needed you to know that I want us to be like that. I’m not entirely sure what we are but this is what I want.” 

   It was eerily silent for what seemed like hours, but it was really only a few minutes. I kept trying to meet Arin’s eyes but he kept staring at his hands, shifting his view. I almost couldn’t believe it. Did he really not want something with me? Is this where it ends? Is this where everything ends? Why did I even say anything at all? I would’ve been happy to just be with him, even if it didn’t mean we would be anything more than friends with benefits. But no, Danny Dumbass had to go and ruin it. I was so lost in my own thoughts I almost didn’t hear him when he finally spoke. 

   “Do you remember what happened a year ago, on New Year’s Eve?”

   I swallowed the lump in my throat and let out a shaky breath. He’s asking about a year ago, Why? I try to think back to last December. Things were so blurry then. It had been a month since my breakup with Ross and a few weeks after Arin and I had a huge fight that left us ceasing all contact with each other. 

   “I had just gotten the promotion after work. But I wasn’t doing good. I was having trouble sleeping, I wasn’t eating, barely drinking. That night I decided to take some sleeping pills… with the full intention of dying that night. That, paired with the empty stomach led me to pass out because of an overdose. I woke up in the hospital the next day. They said I was very lucky because someone came in and kept my head elevated so I could breathe. The person called an ambulance but they stayed anonymous, I always just figured it was one of my neighbors.” I shrugged. “I never really thought about it more. Why do you ask?”

   “I saved you.”

   I shook my head, “Arin, we weren’t even talking. You were mad at me. That couldn't have been you.”

   He nodded solemnly, wringing his hands. “I became some sort of stalker after we had that fight. I would come over just see you. I didn’t come up to the door but I would just stand on the sidewalk, looking inside. I had been doing it for weeks, you were too busy sleeping or drawing to notice me. It was the only thing I could think to do to keep you close to me. I would watch you look blankly into the distance for hours. I would watch you stare into the mirror. I didn't see my best friend, Danny. I saw an entirely different person. I couldn't stop watching you cause I knew that something might happen. And it did. I watched you take the pills. And then you looked straight at me, and I was about ready to run out of there. But then you collapsed...I couldn’t leave after that.

   “I ran into your house, and it looked like I walked in on a murder. You were just limp on the floor, but it looked like you were dead, you were just so pale.” Arin didn’t stop speaking, and I just soaked it all up. He was crying now, and I reached to wipe away a tear that fell from his eyes but only more followed. And I couldn't stop them from falling, I couldn’t catch them, there were too many. 

   “I called 911, but I thought you were already dead. It didn’t look like you were breathing. I was scared. I was so scared. Thankfully, I was still your emergency contact. They told me you were still alive, but they were making you stay there to make sure this wouldn’t happen again. I couldn't visit you. I wanted to, so desperately. But I just couldn’t. Every time I shut my eyes I saw your empty blank eyes staring back at me.” He was sobbing into his hands. I didn’t do anything but stare. I only listened.

   I thought I was alone that whole time. I didn’t want Arin to see that part of me. I tried to move away from him, trying to give him some privacy. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry I did that to you. Oh god, Arin, I’m sorry.” Before I could move an inch away, Arin grabbed my wrist. He shifted himself closer to me, resting his forehead against my chest, his tears soaked into my shirt but I didn’t care. He was holding onto me for dear life, his fists gripped my sweater. I pulled him closer, almost until he was sitting on my lap. I wrapped my arms around him, holding onto him, I was afraid that he would disappear if I let go. “I’m so sorry.”

   We stayed like that for some time, he eventually stopped crying, but we didn’t let each other go. 

   “Danny?” His voice was slightly muffled, but he spoke tentatively. Like he was stepping on broken glass. I was the broken glass.

   “I can’t believe it. It was you. Even when we were apart you were still looking after me.”    

    He sat up, so he was looking directly into my eyes. The edges of his eyes were red and there were tear stains on his flushed cheeks but he was still smiling. “Of course I did. I stopped being mad at you the second I stepped outside. But I couldn’t go back inside. I was too much of a pussy to do that. So I just stayed outside, watching you. And the habit just continued.” 

   “I’m so sorry you had to see that.”

   “It’s okay, I’m okay. It was just a lot. I never told anyone what happened, that’s why I cried so much. I’ve never said it out loud before. It’s really okay. I’m glad you’re okay. But that’s why I’ve been a little weird with you. I’m so scared I’m going to break you. I don’t want to be like Ross.”

   “Arin, please stop. You are nothing like Ross. God, you’re perfect and handsome and funny, just amazing in every way. You drive me crazy in the best possible way. You make me want to skip around and dance every time I see you... and also want to rip your clothes off.” He laughed lightly at that, bringing a smile to my lips.“Please don’t ever say you’re Ross again. You are everything to me. I am not going to break. After all of that happened. I went to therapy, which was long overdue. I’m okay now, believe me on that.”

   He nodded, wiping his cheeks and sniffling. “I’m sorry for crying all over you.”

   “That’s okay, this sweater needed to be washed anyway.” 

He gasped and swatted me playfully on the arm. “That’s not nice. Don’t be so fucking rude.”

“You’re right, I’m sorry,” I say, not bothering to hold back the series of chuckles. “Hey, we’re okay right?” 

“I think so. Let me check.” He leaned down to press a kiss to my lips, sparks flew behind my eyes. I was pulling him back only a few milliseconds later. I wrapped my arms around his waist, his warm hands cupping my face. The kiss felt more real, more loving than it ever had before. Which I didn’t know was possible. 

He finally pulled away, a finger tapping his chin. “Yep. We’re cool. The butterflies are still there.”

I chuckled, pulling him in for another kiss. “You’re such a dork.”

“So, boyfriends? I like the sound of that.”

My smile got even bigger. “Yes, boyfriends.”


	5. Epilouge

I remember the first day it snowed. Every day, the first day it snowed it signaled that something bad would happen. I grew up believing that the snow was the reason my life was horrible. I was wrong. Four years ago I realized that bad things happen, it doesn’t matter what the weather is. Arin, the love of my life, helped me realize that. He helped me to embrace the snow, realize that it was gentle and quiet, and wanted to be loved. Like me. 

Arin started as my best friend, we helped each other through everything. We grew together and he was always by my side. Last year, as he proposed to me, he promised me that he would forever be by my side, as my best friend, and as my husband if I would let him. Before he could even finish asking me the big question I was already accepting.

Now, I straighten my tie, anxiously waiting to see Arin. I hadn’t seen him all day, and that was driving me crazy. I run my hands through my untameable hair, and then I see him. He’s in an almost identical suit to mine, and he looks amazing. I feel my jaw actually drop at the sight of him. 

He chuckles at my expression, and my heart warms as it always does at the sound of his laugh. “Hi.” He says, just one word making my knees weak.

“I love you.” His smile widens as he leans to kiss me, sparks flying just like the first time.

“I love you too.” Muffled music plays and I know it’s time to go. “That’s our cue.” His eyes meet mine, the love flowing through us is evident. 

He kisses me one last time before grasping my hand in his. Snow falls from outside as we round the corner and walk down the aisle, side by side. 

Forever. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this series! hottubofmiracles and I worked really hard on this and we're very proud of it! Thank you so much for reading!


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